Friday, August 24, 2007

Finally The Pudgeman Blogs

You know, I was thinking. Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! It reminds me of the old saying of "be careful what you pray for because you just might get it"! God has blessed me with a wonderful job that will support my family nicely but there is much to do and between working very long days and driving back home the last couple of weekends, I just haven't taken the time to blog.

The job is going great! My official title is Plant Logistics Manager. I really like this job. I am with a very solid company but I am at a plant that has needed some real leadership. I have a staff who is embracing the ideas that I have thrown out there to them and seem eager to get things running well. I have a boss who is very straight forward, a good motivator and deals with his staff fairly! I am challenged and motivated by the people that surround me! This is really working for me!

Praises to God for some great news. I went back to the doctor about my eye today. The tumor no longer has any blood vessels going to it and has shrunk from 2.3 mm thick to 1.5 mm thick. In Dr. Vine's words "the response of your tumor to the radiation is impressive!" In layman's terms, I now have a scar on the back of my eye not a tumor. Dr. Vine is also able to recommend a doctor out in the Philadelphia area for continued follow up. Which means that I won't have to drive 9 hours to see a doctor for follow up. This is all good news.

Continue to hold all of us up in prayer. I am leaving on Sunday morning to head back (after a short stop to visit momma) and Rachel & the boys will be driving out on Thursday to spend an extended weekend with me. This isn't all play though, Rachel and I are going to be looking at houses while she is there. We are also putting our house up for sale here in Waterford so we need prayer for all of these things to come together.

We are still dealing with the emotions of leaving all of those behind that we love so deeply. I guess in some ways I am the lucky one because I have this job that I really enjoy to keep me busy and Rachel has had the tough job of preparing the house and getting all of the mortgage details together.

Bottom line is that we are blessed. With blessing come both challenges and responsibilities. We love all of you very much and look forward to life settling down to where we can do some visiting in the near future. Be blessed beyond belief today.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Start Date

You know, I was thinking. I now have my start date for my new job with Graham Packaging. My first day is this Wednesday August 15. I will be leaving out in the morning but will be driving back on Friday to pick up more stuff and hopefully move into an apartment next week. I want to thank everyone ahead of time for keep all of us held up in prayer. Be blessed beyond belief today.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Our Final Answer!

You know, I was thinking. It's really funny how God works. Rachel and I have been praying for a while now about what we ought to do if we get a job offer like the one we got. We really got excited this past Monday when the offer came in but we also stepped back to say "alright is this what we want to do?" With everything that has happened to bring us to this decision we cannot help but to see the hand of God in it. I have been praying that God would make this easy for us. I had even prayed that we only get one offer! I have just come off of several weeks of very intense job hunting. Last week the phone and the emails were going nuts. I was getting quite a few people inquiring about my resume. Since the offer came on Monday I have not received a single call or email with anyone wanting to know more! This is not a by chance! God has a plan and I need to listen to His voice.

Rachel and I accepted the offer from Graham Packaging on Tuesday. I went yesterday to a place in Pontiac for my drug screening and will probably know a start date by tomorrow. I will travel out and aquire some temporary housing for myself while Rachel keeps her home base here in Waterford for about the next couple of months until we can get this place taken care of and find a new home in PA!

We hate to leave but we know we need to leave to be in God's will on this. I don't know what is around the corner, but I trust that God has got it all laid out for us. I wasn't unemployed that long but I am already chomping at the bit and ready to go. It really is an exciting time for us and we want everyone to know how much we have appreciated all of the love, warmth and prayers that have been out there. We are leaving behind a great many friends and family members but believe me when I say that we will be back visiting as often as we can.

Continue to pray for us as we will be traveling a lot and be up to our armpits in allegators so to speak! I love all of you and want you to know that although Russ made a temping offer we just can't live on $10/week and no benefits! Be blessed beyond belief today.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Just When You Think...

You know, I was thinking. It really is funny how God works these days. I mean things for the past couple of months (especially the last three weeks) have been enormously stressful! I've had these major problems with my former employer (mostly caused by me), the plant closed, my unemployment has been held up and then Rachel was informed last Friday that she lost her job! We had a tough weekend to say the least. I believe in walking by faith and I really do believe that God is in control but this has been getting ALMOST more than I can handle.

Well, over the weekend we had people of prayer praying for us. I have sent out at least 250 resumes over the past four weeks and have had a grand total of five interviews (two of them by phone only and one with just the recruiter). For those of you who might not quite get it at this point, both Rachel and I have been discouraged. Last Friday I began to pray that God would provide us some relief from all of this! Some kind of encouragement to bring us out of this huge tailspin that we have been in for the past month.

Well today we got some stress pulled off of our shoulders. I received a job offer! Not just an offer but one that the base pay exceeds what Rachel and I made combined this past year! This is also a job that I will love doing. The only draw back is that the job is in West Hazleton, PA. Not that this is a problem but it was not OUR first choice to relocate. But, God is making provisions and I am not one to take that lightly.

Here's the deal, we have to either accept or reject this offer no later than this Friday (8/10/07). I am asking everyone who is willing, to pray about this. If I have no other offers by Thursday evening then we are going to accept the offer that was made. If we have another offer then we will have to evaluate and make the best decision that we can. I love all of my friends and family here in SE Michigan but I am being honest with you that it really tough to find work around this area.

God is good all the time! His mercies endure forever! He has given me the desires of my heart and I will not turn from Him! Pray for us during these next few days and I will let all of you know what is happening when the time comes. Be blessed beyond belief today.